What size brim is "stingy"?

[Midnight Blue]

Anyone know what size brim Frank Sinatra likely wore back in the Rat Pack days?

 

[Feraud]

Not sure about Ol Blue Eyes but I think stingies are under 2".

 

[deanglen]

Dittoes to Feraud.


dean

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

But don't forget that for the whole picture, crown height plays a role, and whether it's tapered. I get the impression early/mid-30s hats can have a really short brim, but you wouldn't mistake them for a "rat pack" or "Blues Brothers" type.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

I had never heard anybody say, before this thread, but I sort of assumed two inches was the dividing line.

 

[carter]

I concur on 2" or less.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Agreed, the dividing point is 2" but the early 60s the most common brim width was 1 3/4". By the late 60's it was 1 1/2"

 

[barrowjh]

I appreciate the information - until now, I have been referring to anything less than 2 1/4 as 'stingy' - now I know better! thanks

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Agreed, the dividing point is 2" but the early 60s the most common brim width was 1 3/4". By the late 60's it was 1 1/2"

Having lived through those years, as well as the previous decade, it seems I remember there was a generally direct corelation among lapel widths, tie widths, and hat brim widths. There is still a general corelation between lapels and ties.

I'm convinced that one of the factors in the demise of men's hats was that the manufacturers did not agressively market (or even produce) wider brimmed hats to go with the wide ties and lapels of the 70's.

 

[BrotherBob]

Brims...

Brims are like revolvers...the bigger the better!

Regarding that guinea thug from Hoboken, looks like him and his punks wore no larger than a 2 1/4.

He's also the greatest song stylist America has ever produced.

He hung with some kookoo broads.

"Scuse me while I disappear"

 

[tonyb]

As long as we're on the subject ...
Sometimes I wonder if it is required that an eBay seller not know how to use a tape measure before he or she is permitted to put a vintage hat on offer.
Numerous are the tales of interior circumference measurements being nowhere near accurate, but that's kinda understandable, seeing how there's a definite trick to getting it right. But I gotta wonder how something as seemingly straightforward as determining a brim width could so often be done so wrong. Maybe some sellers think there is no appreciable difference between a 2-inch brim and one another 3/8ths of an inch wider.
Shaul-Ike Cohen makes a darned good point, and one a relative newbie would do well to heed -- it's not just the brim width or the crown shape or height or ribbon width or any other single factor, it's how they all work together. Case in point: I happen to have a pair of very similar middle to late '50s-vintage Stetsons. Both are the same pale blue. Both have dark blue (almost black) ribbons of equal width. Both have wind strings and Mode edges and crowns very close to the same height and profile. But on one hat the brim measures 2 3/8ths inches, and the other is 2 3/4ths. The one with the shorter brim is the better looking hat, I think, because the whole package looks more balanced. Coming from a person who generally prefers the more generous brims, that's saying something extraordinary.

 

[dr greg]

matching up

Bearing in mind the relationship between lapels and brim width, can one successfully wear a stingy with a DB suit? I wonder.......

 

[A.R. McVintage]

Bearing in mind the relationship between lapels and brim width, can one successfully wear a stingy with a DB suit? I wonder.......

I think that would look rather bizarre as the stingy brim was also associated with a type of single-breasted dressing.

@BrotherBob: We'll have to agree to disagree on the greatest American song stylist.

 

[Twitch]

I'll also agree that 2" is the dividing line.[huh]

 

[Feraud]

Bearing in mind the relationship between lapels and brim width, can one successfully wear a stingy with a DB suit? I wonder.......

I have seen 60s era db suits worn successfully with stingy brims.
It is all in the attitude of the wearer.

 

[Fletch]

Awhile back I recommended a new category for hats brimmed in the 2 1/4"-2 1/2" range: Wimpy Brims.

With neither the tightly wound cool of the stingy nor the go-to-hell panache of the wide brim, Wimpies appeal to that part of us which wants to have our stylistic cake and eat it too: to be individualistic yet approachable, to be memorable without being obvious, to make a statement without others ever quite knowing what it is.

I myself wear little else.

 

[jimmy the lid]

it's not just the brim width or the crown shape or height or ribbon width or any other single factor, it's how they all work together. Case in point: I happen to have a pair of very similar middle to late '50s-vintage Stetsons. Both are the same pale blue. Both have dark blue (almost black) ribbons of equal width. Both have wind strings and Mode edges and crowns very close to the same height and profile. But on one hat the brim measures 2 3/8ths inches, and the other is 2 3/4ths. The one with the shorter brim is the better looking hat, I think, because the whole package looks more balanced. Coming from a person who generally prefers the more generous brims, that's saying something extraordinary.

Excellent point, Tony. I, too, favor the more generous brims. In fact, it has never even occurred to me to drop down below 2 1/2 inches, which I have always perceived as my limit. That being said, my recently acquired willow green Whippet is my narrowest brim yet, coming in at 2 3/8 inches. Surprisingly (for me, that is), the shorter brim nevertheless looks great for all of the reasons you cite -- the overall proportions all work perfectly together.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I've always heard 2 inches, but even that seems wide these days what with the music celebs wearing those Rude Boy hats.

It certainly is 2 inches for me -- even 2 1/4 inches seems stingy. My hats have to be over 2 1/2 inches to fit my face.

I like the look of stingy brims, just can't wear them.

karol

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Awhile back I recommended a new category for hats brimmed in the 2 1/4"-2 1/2" range: Wimpy Brims.

With neither the tightly wound cool of the stingy nor the go-to-hell panache of the wide brim, Wimpies appeal to that part of us which wants to have our stylistic cake and eat it too: to be individualistic yet approachable, to be memorable without being obvious, to make a statement without others ever quite knowing what it is.

I myself wear little else.

I like your way with words, Fletch.

 

[Midnight Blue]

Thanks!

Thanks guys, you've been a great help.

I originally bought my hat thinking it was a stingy brim but every time I would put it on in front of a mirror the brim seemed huge. However, I now realize that my intuition was right. The brim does indeed measure 1 3/4" and, more interestingly, when I saw a picture of myself in the hat for the first time I realized it looks far less imposing than in the mirror. I will have to remember that trick for next time. (Works well with suits too - the fit usually looks very different in a picture than in a reflection.)

( for the record, the suit is midnight blue, not black!)